


Not Puppets

by ThatOddNerd



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Spoilers, Clint's Farm, F/M, Friendship, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, post Age of Ultron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-20
Updated: 2014-11-20
Packaged: 2018-02-26 09:12:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2646419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatOddNerd/pseuds/ThatOddNerd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Age of Ultron Spoilers and speculation. </p><p>There they were, stuck on the farm with no where to go, or rather, no where else they could go that was safe. Natasha's stuck in bed with an injury, everyone is tired and tense, and Clint just wants to run.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Puppets

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: So, the part about Bruce, I'll let you speculate on. I was going to say a concrete yes or no as to whether I had him...you know, but then I decided to leave it as a 'Let the reader decide.'. 
> 
> I also have a thing for the Clint/Wanda friendship, as you might know from the other fics I have done. Can't stop, won't stop.

* * *

Steve and Tony are still outside, glaring at one another and chopping more wood than they'll ever really need. (Although he heard they might be getting a bad storm, it might rain for days or snow, he's not sure which. Maybe they'll use it up. Either way, he is NOT going to move all of it to the storage shed himself.) He has no idea where Thor went off to, and Banner...

They don't talk about that. 

None of them do. 

It had been a long past few weeks, (Or had it been months? At this point he couldn't really tell anymore.) and they were all exhausted, battered, and all around hurt, inside and out. They had fought the good fight and lost, then turned tail and ran, because what else could they do? S.H.I.E.L.D. was still down, despite what Hill had told them of the revival, Ultron was on the loose, and no one was safe anymore. The fact that Clint's farm wasn't on record with S.H.I.E.L.D. was not just a blessing but a damn miracle. He had been sure they'd known, despite his many precautions to make it so they didn't. It was the only place they could go really. It wasn't ideal, considering they were out in the middle of no where and getting food and supplies was a bit of a chore, but they weren't wanting for money (Tony's contribution, when he emptied his accounts before they vanished leaving Pepper with enough money she could retire and a note saying "I'm sorry. We had to run.Don't halt your life just for me.".), Thor provided a protection barrier around the large farm, and Clint, Natasha, and Steve were all well trained in survival strategies. They would be fine. They could make it.

Until, of course, Ultron found them, which was a scenario none of them doubted would happen one day.

"She's still asleep." Clint jumps a bit at the sound of the voice, much softer than he'd ever heard it, and turned around from where he'd been standing next to the stairway to see Wanda staring back at him from her spot on the couch. She looked tired, aged beyond her years from stress and little sleep, and Clint couldn't help the pang of sadness that flew through him at the sight. "She's stable and sleeping. I've been keeping track. There's a reason I haven't budged from this spot." She points upwards and that's when Clint realizes that from her spot on the couch, she is right below the room Natasha is sleeping in. "I don't know how to explain it but I can ...feel her. She's alright." Clint nodded, leaning against the bannister. 

"Where's Pietro?" Clint asked, noticing a distinct lack of a tall, silver haired someone.

"Running it off." It's all Wanda says, and all she needs to say. The old Avengers weren't the only ones damaged in the battle. 

"Well, dinner will be in a few hours. Not exactly the Ritz but it's food." Clint turned to go up the stairs, feeling Wanda's eyes still on him. 

"Thank you. We know. We're just grateful to have somewhere to...hide." 

"So are we all Wanda, so are we all." 

When he enters the room he is careful to open and close the door softly enough so he doesn't wake her up, and for once, he is successful. He stands there by the door for ten minutes before he dares to move to the dresser, slowly opening drawers until he finds the one he is looking for, and pulls a jacket from it, large and warm. He goes next to the closet, pulling out a pair of boots and his back up gun from a hidden section in the confined space. Just because Thor has a protection field surrounding the area, doesn't mean Clint isn't still paranoid about the possibility of someone getting in who isn't supposed to. He pulls on the jacket and the boots, and is careful to stick the gun somewhere he won't regret if it accidentally goes off. He's about to leave the room when he hears her stir under the sheets and blankets, and he stops.

"Where are you going?" She asks, her voice groggy and still heavy with the sleeping pills he'd given her earlier so she could sleep longer than three hours.

"Scouting." He replies, hand on the door, waiting for her to tell him he was being stupid, no one could get into the barrier that had been set up. When she says nothing, he turns to look at her and she is sitting up for the first time in awhile, staring at him. "What?"

"Hill went scouting this morning didn't she?" 

"Yeah, she did." 

"And since I can't hear them downstairs, I take it either one or both of the Maximoffs are out of the house?"

"Wanda's in, Pietro went...running." Natasha nodded and folded her hands together, still looking at him intently.

"So the ground is covered. Pietro usually does laps around the inside of the barrier. He's a pretty capable fighter from what I have seen. If there is trouble he can make it back here in less than 30 seconds."

"That is true." 

"So why are you going out scouting if there is no reason to go out scouting?" Clint sighed and walked over to the bed, Natasha patted the space next to her and, after taking off his jacket, boots, and removing the gun, he sat next to her.

"I'm going crazy being stuck here." Clint admitted, fiddling with a loose thread on the blanket. "Nothing will ever compare to being taken over by Loki but this is coming in close second, I won't lie. This is awful. I know we have to stay here but I cannot think of anything worse than being cooped up, unable to do what you want to do. It's like..."

"Mind control without actual mind control." Natasha knew him well, and she had been seeing Clint's slow descent into madness from their self-imposed imprisonment on the farm. It wasn't that he didn't like the farm, he did. But usually if he was staying there he'd be able to leave. Now he couldn't, and it was driving him mad. 

"Pretty much, yeah." Clint leaned back against the headboard and stared at the wall, as if it was going to give him all the answers. "I had more freedom when I was with the circus and that was run by criminals, more than half of which want to kill me now." 

"What about the other part?" Cheeky smile on her face, Clint knew she was trying to cheer him up and so he smiled back.

"I either killed them or put them in prison for life." They didn't talk for a bit after that. Clint never spoke of his time with the circus much, and Natasha understood why. Clint's early years were as touchy a subject to him as her early years were to her, and both knew the others' story. There were some things you just couldn't come back from.

"What do we do now Clint?" Natasha concerned was a once in a while happening, Natasha truly upset was even rarer, Natasha scared was a once in a blue moon happening, even for Clint, and right now, she sounded scared. "New York was bad, but this? What happened with Ultron was... how does something like that happen? We're alive, but in some ways we might as well have died. I thought the worse thing that could happen was an alien invasion, magic filtering into our world, unknown sources and crazy mind control but... when it's something that we, humanity, created? That just terrifies me more than I could ever say. Ultron, who wasn't brought here by aliens or powered by one, but created by a human being and now on a rampage because technology has finally reached the point where artificial intelligence can..." 

"I know. And we were worried about Skyenet." Natasha glared at him, and he risked a side glance at her, a small smile on his lips. 

"Clint, I'm being serious here." 

"I know, I'm sorry. You know how it is with me. If I can't laugh it off it's going to be a problem."

"It already is a pretty big problem Clint." 

"I know." 

"I want you to stay here, with me. Don't go out today, please?" Clint couldn't help but hear an underlying tone of worry in her voice, causing him to look at her fully, puzzled.

"What's wrong?" 

"I just...during the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., you were on that one mission and you were removed from everything and everyone, and couldn't contact anyone and we couldn't contact you, and you were just...gone." Clint winced and Natasha took one of his hands in hers. "I'm not blaming you for that Clint. You were under orders and I can understand that, you know I can. It's just...when all hell was breaking loose, the one person I wanted by my side...needed, by my side, was you, and you were no where to be found. Part of me constantly worried that you had been captured and were being tortured or...worse. I hated it. I hated not knowing. And this isn't going to become a thing, trust me, but for now, I would like to know where my best friend and partner are. And I'm tired, and sore, and I can't get up without being in pain, so you're just going to have to stay here alright?" Clint was startled by her admission, but nodded, pulling back  the covers and scooting closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer.

"I hear you Nat." he whispered into her ear.

"You sure about that Keller?" Natasha replied.

"Wise ass." Clint snipped. 

"Whatever old man, don't fall asleep with them in."

"That's what she said."

"Ew, Clint, don't be gross. You're ruining the moment." 

"Sorry what? I can't hear you." 

"Now who's being the wise ass?" 

"I've always been the wise ass in this relationship. You take after me." 

"In your dreams." 

"Oh dear, always. Alw...ow!" Natasha laughed and pulled her right leg back to where it was resting on top of her left, smiling when she noted that he hadn't pulled away. "Why are we friends again?"

"I thought we were more than friends."

"You're avoiding the question." 

"You're avoiding maturity." 

"I am mature." 

"I'm yet to see proof of that."

"That isn't what you were saying a few months ago." 

"Why, why must you ruin the moment?"

"What moment? You were calling me a child." 

"S'cuz you are." 

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not." 

"Are t-"

" Holy shit would you two just go to sleep already?! I can hear you from down here, even without super powers!" Wanda rolled her eyes when she heard laughing in response, and sat back down on the couch, picking up her book and hoping they didn't decide to remake whatever it was that happened 'a few months ago'. 

"Well then." Natasha whispered, after a few minutes of silence.

"I do believe we've been scolded."

"I believe you are right." 

"Night Tasha."

"Good night Clint, even though we'll be awake in a few hours for dinner." 

"Now whose ruining the moment?" 

"Well..." Suddenly a piece of paper shot under the door and flew right at them, Clint catching it right before it hit him in the face. On it were the words 'Go the fuck to sleep.' in Russian. 

Wanda decided that the second peel of laughter heard from upstairs was not a nuisance, rather a small indicator that maybe, just maybe, they'd all get through this. 

Ultron was wrong. They weren't puppets, they were Avengers. 

The End.

 


End file.
